Control apparatus



Jun' 10. 1924. 1,497,407

W. S. RUGG CONTROL APPARATUS Filed June 9, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1.5V 12" .r Fyj i=2? fa.

INVENTOR Wa/fer' J. 2490 WITN ssEs;

June 10, 1924. 1,497,407

W. S. RUGG CONTROL APPARATUS Filed June 9, 1919 2 Shee1.s$heet 2 2/ i 20 a 22 3 4 I 1 lNVENTOR WITNESSES:

Wa/fez: JT/Jayy.

Patented June 10, 1924.

WALTER S. RUGG, OF PITTSBURGH. PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTROL APPARATUS.

Application filed June 9, 1919.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, lVAL'rEP. S. Rose, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a. new and useful Improvementin Control Apparatus, of which th following is a spoolfication;

My invention relates to control apparatus mount an engineers valve beneath the car floor and close to the supply tank and the brake cylinder, whereby a minimum amount ofair piping is required and the attendant possibilities of frozen air pipes are practically eliminated.

Anotherobject of my invention is to provide' foot-controlled means for concurrently governing both the electric circuits and the air-brake system when an arrangement of apparatus; as indicated above, is employed:

A further object of my invention is to provide, upon an electirc vehicle, a controller for the electric circuits and also brake-controlling means, respectively lo-'- cated above and beneath the vehicle. floor, together with preferably foot-operated means for concurrently actuating both the controller and the brake-controlllng means.

My invention may best be understood 'by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a view, partially in elevation and partially in section, of a complete control apparatus constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention;

Fig; 2 and Fig. 3 are views, respectively, in plan and in end elevation, of a portion of the apparatus that is shown in Flg. 1;

Fig. t is an enlarged view, in end elevation, of another part of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are views, in side elevation, and in plan, respectively, of a modified form of the invention.

Serial No; 302,738.

Referring to Fig. 1 to Fig. 4 ofthe draw- 5 ings, the structure here shown comprises a plurality of the well-known platform master controllers 1a and 16 that are suitably mounted at the opposite ends of'a railway vehicle; and a foot-controlled mechanismfl for governing the electric circuits of the controller at the co-rresponding end of the vehicle and foralso governing an engineers valve. 3'or other brake-controlling means.

The valve 3 is mounted beneath the car fioor' lto govern the operation of a suitable brakerigging 5 .for effecting an application'of the vehicle brakes to one or more of the car wheels 6.

The master controllers 1a and 1b are alike in construction and, consequently, only the controller 1a need be described'indetail. This controller comprises a suitable encasing member 10 within which is rotatively mounted'a control drum -11'to be actuated by means of the familiar handle 12 that is located on top of the controller box. The customary reversing handle 13 is alsopro vided. Since the particular electric circuits made by the control drum 11 and the asso- 80 ciated reversing-drum (not shown) are not n'iaterialto the present invention, I have" not deemed it necessary to further illustrate or describesuch circuits.

However, a'controll'ing switch '15 of thef enclosed type is also located within'the encasing member 10 and comprises a pair or stationary contact members or blocks 16 and a vertically .slidable contact member or disk 17 which is suitably mounted upon, and 'insulated from, a'rod 18 that normallyengages a cam 19constituting a portion of the foot-controlled mechanism 2.

The mechanism 2 further comprises a pedal or foot-lever 20 which is biased to the 5 illustrated position by means of a suitable spring 20a. The pedal 20 is mounted upon a horizontally-extending shaft 21 which is suitably supported by a bracket or standard 22 that is mounted upon the platform floor. A rod 23 is rigidly secured to the operating shaft 21 and extends downwardly through the car floor, having a forked end 24 for the purpose of eifecting operation ofthe engineers valve 3, ashereinafter more .fully set forth.

For the purpose of permittingremoval of the pedal 20, together with the shaft 21 and the rod 23, the upper ends of the standard or bracket 22 may be bifurcated, as shown, to support the shaft 21 under operating conditions but readily permitting the removal of the parts mentioned whenever desired. In this way, unauthorized movement of the apparatus by passengers upon the rear end of the vehicle, for example, is prevented and only one foot-lever is necessary for double-end operation of the car.

The engineers valve 3 may be of any familiar type, such as is now employed upon car platforms, and comprises a suitably chambered casing 25 and an operating lever or handle 26. A. bell-crank lever 27 is intermediately supported upon a hanger or bracket 28 that is secured to the car floor andis provided with a forked end for engaging the valve handle 26, while the other end of the bell-crank lever is engaged by the forked end 24 of the downwardly-extending rod 23.

A rod 29 extends the length of the vehicle and has a bifurcated end that engages the valve handle 26, whereby operation of the valve from the remote end of the vehicle may be readily effected, as hereinafter more fully explained.

The outlet passage or pipe 30 of the engineers valve 3 may be very short and communicates directly with the brake cylinder 31, within which a suitable piston 32 is biased to the illustrated position by means of a helical spring 33 that surrounds the piston rod 34. The supply pipe or passage 35 for the valve likewise communicates directly, through a very short pipe, with the tank or air reservoir 36, while the exhaust passage 37 of thevalve may open directly to the atmosphere.

The outer end of the piston rod 34 is pivotally attached to a rod or bar 4.0 that depends from a suitable bracket 41 mounted upon the under side of the car floor, and the rod carries a suitable brake-shoe 12 for engaging the tire of the vehicle wheel 6. It will be understood that the brakerigging here shown is for illustrative purposes only and that any well-known type of air-brake rigging may be actually employed in practice.

As clearly illustrated in Fig. l, the controller 1?) may be associated with the footlever or pedal 20 to engage a vertically-en tending end portion of the rod 29, whereby the brake-valve handle 26 may be actuated from the remote car platform, corresponding to the controller 16, by means of the same apparatus, both removable and permanent, that is employed for directly associating the controller 1a and the valve handle 26 at the other end of the vehicle.

As shown in Fig. 4-, the engineers valve 3 is adapted to occupy four positions, respectively designated as Emergency, Service, Lap and Release. It is believed that the operations performed by the valve in the various designated positions are sufficiently well-known to require no further description here. However, it should be noted that the spring 20a that is connected with the foot-lever 20 serves to bias the brake-valve handle 26 to the illustrated Emergency position so that, upon accidental or intentional removal of the operators foot from the pedal 20, the electric circuits governed by the contact members 16 and 1'? are broken, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and, at the same time, the brake valve 3 is actuated to its position Emergency to ef-t feet an emergency application of the vehicle brakes. For this and other obvious reasons,

it will be evident that my present invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with so-called one-man or safety cars, although, of course, the field of application of the invention is not so restricted.

Assuming that the various parts of my control apparatus occupy the positions shown, the operation thereof to start the vehicle may be set forth as follows: Upon forward movement of the pedal 20 by the operators foot. the lever mechanism con neeting the pedal and the valve handle 26 is actuated to turn the handle, in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 4:, until Release position is reached to effect the corresponding operation of the vehicle brakes. As soon as this function is performed, the cam 19 forces the rod 18 upwardly to efl'ect engagement between the movable contact disk 1'1 and the stationar contact blocks 16. Consequently, the gov-' erning circuits of the master controller and, therefore, the main circuits of the car-pro-' pelling motors may be controlled by any desired movement of the operating handle 12. In the preferred type of operation, the motorman may initially set the operating handle 12 in a position corresponding to full-series or full-parallel operation of the car-propelling motors (controller positions Z) and c, for example) and then, as soon as the foot-lever 20 has been depressed suiiiciently to close the circuit of the contact members 16 and 17, the vehicle will imme diately start.

To stop the vehicle, it is merely necessary,

as previously noted, to remove footpressure from the pedal 20, whereupon the spring 200 returns the various parts to the illustrated positions to interrupt the electric circuits and to effect an emergency application 4 of the air-brakes. However, if a gradual application of the air-brakes is desired, this action may be effected by returning the footlever 20 to a position corresponding to the Service position of the brake-valve 3, whereby the electric circuits are opened,- and further oscillatory movement between positionsfService and ,FLapF Of the engineers valveawill effect the. familiar gradual brakarrangement of the engineers valve 3, the

brakecylinder 31 and-the air reservoir 36, together with a different lever mechanism for operating .the engineers valve. v

In this case, the valve casing 25 may be bolted to the brake cylinder 31 and is tapped, at opposite sides, to efiect communication, through a pipe 45, directly to the reservoir 36 and, through a passage 46, to the brake cylinder 31.

It will be noted that, with either modification of the present invention, the necessary length of air-brake pipes is very short and, consequently, the liability of frozen air piping is practically avoided.

One end of a crank 47 has a rigid connection with the operating stem 48 of the brake valve, and the other end of the crank 47 is pivotally secured to a bell-crank lever 49 and to a rod 50 that respectively extend, in opposite directions, toward the operating platforms. The bell-crank lever 49 is pivotally attached to abracket or hanger 51 and has a suitable mechanical connection, such as a double pivotally connected link 52 and a rod 53, the latter being rigidly connected to the pedal shaft 21, whereby the upward and downward movement of the pedal 20 is imparted to the crank 47, to turn the engineers valve 3, as desired.

A suitable lever arrangement is provided at the opposite end of the vehicle, whereby the desired double-end control of the single engineers valve 3 may be readily eiiected, as Will be evident from its analogy to the operation of the previously-described modification of my invention, without requiring additional explanation.

I do not wish to be restricted to the specific structural details or arrangement of parts herein set forth, as various modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an electric vehicle, the combination with electric-circuit-controlling means at opposite ends of said vehicle and pneumatic brake-controlling meanslocated on the opposite side of the vehicle floor from said circuit-controlling means, of means for concurrently actuating one of said circuit-controlling means and said brake-controlling means from the corresponding end of said vehicle only. i

2. In an electric vehicle, the combination with an electric controller at each end of; said. vehicle, and airsbrake-controlling means located on the. opposite side ,o'f the vehicle floor trom-v said; controllers, said brake-controll ng means having an operatmg handle, of means for concurrently actuating one of said controllers and the h-an dle of said brake. controlling -means; from,

the corresponding end ofsaid vehicle only.

3. In an electric vehicle, the combination;

with electric-circuit-controlling means at opposite ends of saidyehicle, and-air-brake controlling means located on the-opposite.

side of the vehicle floor from said circuitcontrollmg means, of foot-operated means for concurrently actuatmg one of said oncuit-controlling means and said brake-controlling means from one end of said vehicle only.

4. In an electric vehicle, the combination with an electric controller and rotatable brake-controlling means respectively located above and beneath the vehicle floor, of footoperated means for concurrently actuating both said controller and rotating said brakecontrolling means.

5. In a vehicle, the combination With a single air-brake-controlling valve underneath the vehicle floor, of foot-operated means for mechanically actuating said valve from either end of the vehicle.

6. In an electric vehicle, the combination with a plurality of electric-circuit-controlling means positioned at opposite ends of the vehicle and a single rotatable brake-controlling means, of means having a motion of translation for mechanically effecting a rotative movement of said brake-controlling means from either end of the vehicle and for concurrently actuating the corresponding electric-circuit controlling means.

7. In an electric vehicle, the combination with a plurality of controllers positioned at opposite ends of the vehicle and a single rotatable air-brake-controllin valve located beneath the floor of the vehicle, of means having a motion of translation for mechanically imparting a rotative movement to said brake-controlling valve from one end of the vehicle and for concurrently actuating the corresponding controller.

8. In an electric vehicle, the combination with a plurality of controllers positioned at opposite ends of the vehicle and a single engineers valve located beneath the floor of the vehicle,of a lever mechanism for connecting said valve to be positively operative in either direction from either end of the vehicle and for concurrently closing an electriccircuit gap in the corresponding controller.

9. In an electric vehicle, the combination with a plurality of electric-circuit-controlling means positioned at opposite ends of the vehicle and a single pneumatic brakecontrolling means, of foot-operated means for mechanically actuating said brake-controlling means from either end'of the vehicle and for concurrently actuating the corresponding electric-circuit-c0ntrolling means.

10. In an electric vehicle, the combination 5 with a plurality of controllers positioned at opposite ends of the vehicle and a single rotatable air-brake-controlling means located beneath the floor of the vehicle, of footoperated means for mechanically rotating said brake-controlling means from one end of the vehicle and for concurrently actuating the corresponding controller. I

11; In an electric vehicle, the combination with a plurality of controllers positioned at opposite ends of the vehicle and a single engineers valve located beneath the floor of the vehicle, of a lever mechanism including a pedal for connecting said valve to be operative from either end of the vehicle, and means also actuated by said pedal for closing an electric-circuit gap in the corresponding controller.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 29th day of May, 1919.

' WALTER S. RUGG. 

